🏮 Chinese New Year 🏮

In Vietnam, the festival is known as Tết Nguyên Đán, or simply Tết—the country's most significant celebration. Vietnamese families prepare weeks in advance by cleaning their homes, purchasing new clothes, and decorating with peach blossoms in the north or apricot flowers in the south, symbols of longevity and prosperity.

Special traditional foods include bánh chưng (sticky rice cake with green leaves and meat) and mứt (candied fruits). The celebrations typically last at least three days, though the festive atmosphere continues much longer with markets brimming with souvenirs and holiday treats.

Koreans celebrate Seollal (설날) as one of their most cherished traditional holidays, marking winter's end and spring's arrival. Families perform charye—ritual ancestor worship—whilst donning traditional hanbok clothing and preparing special dishes like tteokguk (rice cake soup) that symbolises longevity.

Children receive money in envelopes after performing sebae (formal bows) to their elders, asking for blessings. The three-day holiday sees tens of millions of Koreans travelling to reunite with family, creating one of the nation's busiest travel periods.

Singapore transforms into a dazzling wonderland with the spectacular Chingay Parade featuring carnival floats, dragons, acrobats, and performers. The River Hongbao festival at Gardens by the Bay showcases enormous Chinese lanterns, circus performances, and food markets, whilst Chinatown glows with festive illuminations.

Malaysia's quarter-Chinese population ensures vibrant two-week celebrations, particularly in Kuala Lumpur's Petaling Street Chinatown and Georgetown, Penang. The unique "open house" tradition sees Chinese families welcoming friends of all backgrounds, whilst the prosperity salad "Yee Sang" is ceremoniously tossed high with chopsticks to attract good fortune.